Sunday, 28 March 2010

Stored bought lap cheong in UK are really tasteless, I don't really know why. I had tried so many brands and never find any I really like. It's such a shame good lap cheong from the far east are banned from import and carrying them yourself through custom. I don't buy UK lap cheong too often because they are expensive too about £5 - 7+ for a pound of meat.

Making my own lap cheong (Chinese dried sausages) had been on the to do list for a very long time. I got some synthetic sausage skin for a while starring at me everytime I opened the cupboard. I finally plucked up the courage and made some. I had avoided making them because I was too scared to poison myself. Having made my own bacon (not Chinese) for a while now I have more confidence to venture into other cured meats.

I don't have a sausage stuffing machine, so my stuffing method was very primitive with just a standard funnel and a stick as a plunger. Stuffing machine can be expensive, I don't want to buy one without the confidence to make more again.

I like lap cheong with tiny chunks of fat and meat bind together. Hand cut meat lap cheong 切肉蠟腸 are more expensive in the Far East and taste better IMO. So I hand diced the meat very fine. Coarse mincing will be my second choice if I want to save time. Avoid using store bought minced (ground) pork because they can be contaminated during processing and sitting on the shelf for hours or even days.

I have been toying with either drying the sausages in the oven for few days at low temperature or natural air drying. To turn the fan oven for days can have consequences: 1. It can cost a bit on the electric bill and 2. With the oven operating at low temperature for such a long time may damage it and this is not the expense I would envisage. So in the end I decided to risk it and dry the sausages naturally in ventilated area. I took them outdoor during the day when the weather is dry and airy. At night I hung them in my kitchen next to an open window.

I think the addition of cure salt is essential. Cure salt helps the meat to cure properly and avoid the danger of contamination and causing botulism. I bought this cure salt from US so the concentration is to US standard. Do measure cure salt accurately.

Other tools I used:
funnel and stick for stuffing the sausage
needle to prick the sausages to release trapped air
scissors to cut the skin and string
some cotton or butcher strings for tying the sausages
wire cloth hanger to hang and dry the sausages.

Method:

Coarsely ground or finely chopped the pork fat and lean meat. I hand chopped (very finely diced) the meat you can use a mincer machine.

Then thoroughly mix the pork with the seasoning mix, best use hand you can wear gloves if you want. Put the meat in the fridge overnight.

Then stuff into sausages. I used a thin 21cm synthetic skin. I used a funnel and a wooden stick as plunger. Took me sometime. The sausages are in pairs and tied with a string in the centre.

Hang the sausages. I used a wire cloth hanger which worked really well.

Leave to dry in an airy place to dry. I had left it dry outdoor during the day and brought back and hang in the kitchen at night.

* It is essential to ensure good hygiene while processing the meat, stuffing and drying the sausages. Keep everything as clean as possible.

Review so far:

So far the sausages have been drying really well. No sign of spoilage at all. The smell was lovely and strong with the marinade day 1 and 2. After day 3 -4 the sausages had shrivelled and dried quite a lot and smell had diminished.

The colour of the sausages are reddish with speckles of white fat meat. 'They look great like the real thing.

I reckon they will need 1 week drying time before ready to eat.

Other issues.

I am hooked. If I am still alive after eating these sausages will definitely make some more. To save time and effort, I have ordered some sausages stuffing attachments to use with my meat mincer, Can't wait to make more.

I find synthetic skin easy to split will get some natural skin next time.

The sausages after drying for 4 days looked thinner than I expected using a 21mm wide skin. Will use a thicker (wider) skin next time.

I can't wait to taste these sausages. If you don't hear from me after 2 weeks or so, you know I had poisoned myself. Keep my fingers and my toes :) crossed, I don't want to end up in the hospital.

I have also made a batch of lap yuk (Chinese dried bacon), it has only been drying for 2 days, too early to post will keep you posted.

Meant to say I've been wanting to make these because the gf's mum is coeliac and used to love these when she was growing up in Malaysia. If I make them with a gluten free soy then she can have them again.

I think the curing salt is necessary, not only does it avoid botulism it also gives the sausages the right red colour and cured flavour. I would not attempt to make and eat cured meat hanging to dry in natural air without the cure salt, far too risky. Nitrite/nitrate salt is not that nasty to health if you use it sparingly. I am comfortable to use it.

Btw I tried some last night, I feel fine no illness yet. The flavour and texture were nice. Will give a full review later.

*Shriek if excitement* OMG OMG OMG!! I found a recipe from http://mycookingescapades.blogspot.com/2006/10/finally-i-am-ready.htmlbut did not try it because-1) did not know what kind of casings to buy2) did not know where to air-dry them (am based in UK too, summer= flies, winter= will never dry)

but you have totally inspired me to give it a go!

Which internet company did you use for the skins? or aren't you allowed to say?

kon loh loh shi fun (dry stirred rat noodles?) with sausages? Not heard before is this a S'porean or W Malaysia thing? What kind of sausages do you know? Not lo bak (meat roll wrapped in soy bean sheet) is it?

My gf's Malaysian mum is a coeliac and so hasn't had Lap Cheong since she was diagnosed. I repeated your recipe but used gluten-free soy and they turned out great, smelling fantastic even after 10 days hanging in my spare room. Luckily the spell of snow brought the temperature in there down to about 15 degrees as it's now back up to 19, even with the radiator off, which is getting a little warm.

I've not tried one but she said they tasted great, just how she remembers them from the last time she ate them in 1994.

Wow finally I could see how exactly to make lap cheong. My grandma never passed on her recipe to any of her kids so thanks for this! Btw, what exactly is curing salt? DOes it contain nitrate/nitrite? can I use sea salt? Thanks!

Yes curing salt is a mixture of nitrite and nitrate. I find it essential. You can omit it if you so wish it will harm you, but without it you may be risking botulism and the colour of the cured sausage will not be pinkish red like it should be.

If you want to read more about Chinese curing meat see all my other posts on curing.

The measurement is standard cup size. If you are in US you can buy the salt online.